The present invention relates generally to fuel supplying apparatuses and more particularly to improvements in fuel supplying apparatuses of the type wherein a hose unit secured to a structure above a fuel supplying service area of a fuel supplying station has a fuel supplying hose suspended downwardly therefrom.
Fuel supplying apparatuses of the so-called hanging or overhead type wherein a fuel hose is suspended from a hose unit called a delivery unit, which is secured to an architectural structure such as a ceiling or cross beam above a fuel supplying service area of a fuel supplying station, and fuel supplying is carried out through a fuel supplying nozzle connected to the lower end of the hose have heretofore been known.
In a fuel supplying apparatus of this type, the range wherein fuel supplying is possible is limited to an area corresponding to the base of a hypothetical cone which defines the movable range of the fuel hose and has its vertex at a hose paying-out aperture of the hose unit, the base of the cone being determined by the length of the hose. Accordingly, attempts have been made to expand the range wherein fuel supplying is possible so as to make possible fuel supplying also of vehicles and the like positioned outside of this range, and a number of apparatuses designed toward this end have been proposed.
In one example of these known fuel supplying apparatuses, an arm driven in horizontal rotation by a motor is provided under the hose unit, and a guide of ring shape for guiding the hanging part of the fuel hose which is inserted through the guide is provided at the outer end of this arm. In this apparatus, when the fuel supplying range is to be changed, the arm is driven in horizontal rotation by the motor thereby to cause the hanging part of the hose to be compulsorily moved by the guide rotating unitarily with the arm.
In this fuel supplying apparatus, however, since the guide undergoes an arcuate displacement together with the rotation of the arm, the fuel supplying nozzle at the lower end of the hose also undergoes an arcuate displacement (as viewed in plan view). For this reason, it is difficult to bring the rotational position the nozzle into coincidence with the optimum position for fuel supplying work, whereby the control of the swinging movement of the arm is troublesome.
It is known that in order to cause a material object to move to a desired position, in general, it is advantageous, human engineering-wise, to move the object linearly. Accordingly, a fuel supplying apparatus of an organization wherein the hose is moved with a linear movement to the optimum fuel supplying position has been proposed. In this apparatus, a hose paying out opening provided at the lower surface of a hose unit accommodating a reel around which the ose is wound is formed as a narrow and long opening of linear shape, and a truck capable of moving linearly along this opening is provided. The hose passes through the truck. The paid out position of the hose from the hose unit is determined by the position to which this truck has moved.
In this fuel supplying apparatus, however, as the paid-out position of the hose from the hose unit is displaced, the distance from a guide roller at a fixed position within the hose unit to the hose paid-out position varies. As a consequence, as the hose paid-out position is displaced, the height position of the nozzle at the lower end of the hose disadvantageously varies by a distance equal to the variation of the above mentioned distance.
In still another known fuel supplying apparatus, a truck is adapted to move linearly along a hose paying-out opening of a narrow long opening provided at the lower surface of a hose unit, and drive rollers for clamping the hose are mounted on this truck. This drive rollers rotate as they clamp the hose, which is being accommodated in a free state within a hose accomodating case provided in the hose unit, and thus carry out the operations of paying out and drawing in the hose. In this apparatus, even when the truck moves, the distance between the hose case and the truck is absorbed by the slack in hose which has been pulled out from the hose case. On the other hand, the length of the hose hanging from the drive rollers is constant irrespective of the position of the truck, and the height of the nozzle is also maintained constant.
However, in this fuel supplying apparatus, since the motive power source for driving the drive rollers must unavoidably be mounted on the truck, the total weight of the truck is large. For this reason, when the operator moves the hanging point of the hose, a very great force is necessary for the operator to pull the hose sidewards and to move the truck via the hose, whereby the load on the operator is large. Furthermore, since the raising and lowering of the hose is being carried out by the drive rollers, slippage between the hose and drive rollers occurs when the hose is contaminated by a substance such as oil, whereby positive and accurate raising and lowering of the hose cannot be carried out. In addition, there are other problems such as rapid wear or damage of the hose because it is continually being clamped under pressure by the drive rollers acting on its side surface.